HCMC University of Technology and Education

Physiological and Psychological

Foundations of Sensory Function

1 Phạm Thị Hoàn, PhD.

hoanpt@hcmute.edu.vn

Ho Chi Minh City, 2019 19/2/2020

2 Outline

1. Classical sensory testing and psychophysical

methods
2. Anatomy and Physiology and Functions of Taste
3. Anatomy and Physiology and Functions of smell
4. Chemesthesis
5. Multi-modal Sensory Interactions

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 1. Classical sensory testing and
3
psychophysical methods
“The amount that a physical stimulus needed to be increased to be just
perceivably different was a constant ratio”.

the “Weber fraction” and is an

I Weber E. H.
= k index of how well the sensory
I system detects changes.

Where, Delta I is the increase in the physical stimulus that was

required to be just discriminably different from some starting level, I
 Threshold (ngưỡng) - the point at which a stimulus is of sufficient
4 intensity to begin to produce an effect.

Fechner’s law (1860): Methods for determining the difference threshold or just-
noticeable-difference (j.n.d.)
- The j.n.d. might be used as a unit of measurement and that by
adding up j.n.d.s one could construct a psychophysical relationship
between physical stimulus intensity and sensory intensity.

- The intensity of a stimulus changes in proportion to the logarithm of

the stimulus intensity.
S = k log I
where S is sensation intensity;
I is the physical stimulus intensity
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Physiological Foundations of Sensory Function

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7
THE HUMAN SENSES

• Sense of sight (Vision)

• Sense of smell (Olfaction)
• Sense of taste (Gustation)
• Sense of touch (Touch (somesthesis, kinesthesis and
chemesthesis))
• Sense of hearing (Audition)
• Multimodal perception
 THE SENSORY PROPERTIES OF FOOD
8

Attributes
• Appearance
• Flavour
• Texture
 SENSE OF SIGHT
9

Stimuli – visible light

Receptor – retina of the eye
10 Functional properties
Optical properties:
color
glossiness
transparency, turbidity.

- Physical forms:
• Shape (Sliced, diced, pieces whole);
• Surface texture;
• Visual consistency (pastes, purees,
syrups…).
 SENSE OF HEARING
11

Sound
transmission
through the skull
bone

Stimuli – physical movement of sound waves

Receptor – eardrum
12
Functional properties

• Fracturability
• Snap,
• crackle,
• pop,
• Fizz of champagne or beer
 13
SENSE OF TOUCH

Stimuli: All characteristics of food

Receptors:
Nerve cells on the skin of the hands, tongue skin,
muscles around the palate
14 Functional properties
viscosity (thin, thick)
feel of soft tissue surfaces related (smooth, pulpy);
carbonation related (tingly, foamy, bubbly);
surfaces related (smooth, pulpy);
chemical related (astringent, numbing, cooling)
...
15 2. Anatomy and Physiology and Functions
of Taste
Specialized sense organs on the tongue and soft palate
contain the receptors for our sense of taste.

Taste receptors are in the cell membranes of groups of

about 30–50 cells clustered in a layered ball called
a taste bud.

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16
SENSE OF TASTE

Stimuli – soluble chemicals

Receptor – taste buds in mouth
17
18 Functional properties

Salt Seem to be able to fractionate

Sweet the taste into the traditional
four categories (Bartoshuk et
Sour al.,1974).
Bitter
Umami Many animals including
metallic taste humans possess receptors for
(Chemesthesis) glutamate.
19
TASTE THRESHOLD

• Detection/Absolute threshold:
(0.2-0.6) s

• Recognition threshold:
- Salt = 0.3s
- Sweet = 0.4s
- Sour = 0.5s
- Bitter = 1.0s
20 Taste Perception: Adaptation
and Mixture Interactions

The sense of taste has two important functional properties:

- adaptation
- mixture interactions

Adaptation can be defined as a decrease in

responsiveness under conditions of constant stimulation.

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21 Taste Perception: Adaptation
and Mixture Interactions
A second feature of taste function is the tendency for
mixtures of different tastes to show partially inhibitory or
masking interactions.

In many foods these interactions are important in determining

the overall appeal of the flavors and how they are balanced.
For example, in fruit beverages and wines, the sourness of
acids can be partially masked by sweetness from sugar.

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22 3. Anatomy and Physiology and Functions of
smell
 The olfactory receptors are located in two small portions of epithelium
very high in the nasal cavity.

 There are several million receptors on each side of the nose and they
have a terminal knob protruding into the mucus with about 20–30 very
fine cilia which “float” in the mucus layer (màng nhầy).

 The sense of smell has a rather poor ability to discriminate intensity

levels.
23
SENSE OF SMELL

Stimuli:
volatile chemicals
Receptor:
olfactory cells in the
nose

Retronasal Smell
(internal smelling)
24 Functional properties
Odor/Aroma/Fragrance:
- Odor volatiles enter the nasal passage and are perceived by
the olfactory system.

- Aroma - the odor of a food product.

- Fragrance - the odor of a perfume or cosmetic.

- Aromatic volatiles perceived by the olfactory system from a

substance in the mouth
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25 Functional Properties: Adaptation,
Mixture Suppression, and Release
Adaptation to become unresponsive to stimuli which are
stable in space and time.

Mixture Suppression Odors of different qualities tend to

mask or suppress one another.
Odor intensity decreases as a function of the concentration of
the other component. Such intensity interactions are most likely
common in all complex food flavors.

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Release: After a short period the olfactory system becomes
immune to whatever is ambient in the building, less
responsive to those aromatics if they occur in the test
product, and more responsive to other flavors or aromas
present due to the release from suppression effect.

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28 4. Chemesthesis
Many of these sensations are perceived through
stimulation of the trigeminal nerve endings in the mouth,
nose, or eyes.

• heat-related irritative sensations from chili pepper.

• spices, the non-heat related irritations from horseradish, mustard.

• the lachrymatory (tear-inducing) stimuli from onions.

• the cooling sensations from menthol and other cooling agents, and
irritation from carbon dioxide.
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29 5. Multi-modal Sensory Interactions

taste/odor
flavor/irritation (chemesthesis)
color/flavor

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30 5. Multi-modal Sensory Interactions
taste/odor
 there is little evidence for interactions between the two modalities.
 among untrained consumers, is to misattribute some volatile olfactory
sensations to “taste,” particularly retronasally perceived odors.
Retronasal smell is poorly localized and often perceived as a taste from
the oral cavity.
 When retronasal smell is permitted, a common finding is that sweetness is
enhanced (Delwiche, 2004) and odors are enhanced as well.
 Common experience with the co-occurrence of sweet tastes and
carmelization odors.

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31 5. Multi-modal Sensory Interactions
Irritation and Flavor
the tingle imparted by carbon dioxide will alter the flavor
balance in a product.
Flat soda is usually too sweet. Decarbonated champagne is
usually very poor wine.

Sour things stimulate salivary flow.

The combination of fatty, sour, cold, and sweet suggests

chilled yogurt as a good choice.
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32 5. Multi-modal Sensory Interactions
Color–Flavor

A common finding is that when foods are more deeply

colored, they will obtain higher ratings for flavor intensity.

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Thank you !